


In Sickness

by Solarcat



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-04
Updated: 2006-10-04
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:32:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solarcat/pseuds/Solarcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy Kaplan frowned as his fingertips hit the cardboard bottom of the tissue box. That was not good. It could, in fact, constitute an emergency of epic proportions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Sickness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fullmetal_cute](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fullmetal_cute).



Billy Kaplan frowned as his fingertips hit the cardboard bottom of the tissue box. That was not good. It could, in fact, constitute an emergency of epic proportions. The extra tissues were stored in the hall closet, which had to be at least ten feet away from his position on the couch. Approximately the distance of three football fields.

Billy groaned, tucking the afghan up around his shoulders more tightly and pulling his feet up even further so that the blanket covered everything from the neck down. Even if he could make it to the closet, he didn't want to leave the warm cocoon that he had made. He even had it organized so that he could use the TV remote without reaching a hand beyond the edge of the afghan. On the screen, some shirtless, overweight woman was fighting with another shirtless, overweight woman about a scrawny guy with too many tattoos while the audience chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" over and over again. Billy was sure that being sick had affected his sanity. Then again, the only other thing on that wasn't made for kindergarteners was _The View_, and old Mrs. Sudburry next door watched _The View_.

He was so deep in mourning for the state of daytime TV that he barely registered the doorbell ringing. He groaned again, this time at the echoing ringing in his poor, congested head. Stupid UPS man, probably. He wiggled further down into the sofa cushions and wished for death.

Then the doorbell rang again.

And again.

And again.

Billy was fighting down the urge to kill whoever invented doorbells when the bell stopped ringing and the door opened. He blinked, confused. That wasn't supposed to happen. He had been sure that his mother locked the door that morning when she left.

"Billy?" Teddy's voice called from the entryway, and (though he was still rather confused) Billy felt as though the room had brightened considerably. Without _actually_ brightening, because when he'd turned the light on earlier it had made his head hurt even more, and he was trying to avoid that as much as possible.

He opened his mouth to call out to his boyfriend, but all that came out was a monumental sneeze.

"Aah-ACHOO!" He winced at the violent motion of his head and grimaced as he realized that without a tissue he had managed to slime his hand. So gross...

The noise, though not exactly what Teddy had been expecting, was enough for him to locate Billy. He toed off his shoes at the door and padded into the living room, where Billy was curled up on the couch under his mother's afghan, looking at his hand in disgust. It didn't exactly take a genius to work out what had happened, especially when he spotted the empty tissue box on the floor by the couch.

"Need a tissue?" He asked by way of announcing his presence, and Billy looked up at him with the most grateful expression he had ever seen.

"Mm-hm." It was more a whimper than an answer and it made Teddy want to pick the other boy up and cuddle him, but the tissues needed to come first.

"Hall closet?" He guessed, barely recalling the location. He had been over a lot recently, but wasn't really in the habit of restocking the Kaplans' paper products.

"Mm-hm." Billy huddled down into his blanket as well as he could while still keeping his hand away from it and from himself. Teddy jogged the few steps to the closet and quickly located another box of Kleenex. It had dolphins on it. That seemed nice. He tore the top open and pulled a few out.

"Here." He handed Billy the tissues he had grabbed, setting the new box on the floor in the same place the old one had been. Billy looked down at it as he wiped his hand off.

"It has dolphins on it." He stated. Teddy nodded, sitting down on the edge of the couch while being careful not to dislodge the carefully arranged afghan.

"I thought dolphins were nice. There was one with sunflowers, too..." Billy shook his head, very slowly.

"No. Dolphins are good." He thought for a second. "Why are you here?" He was fairly sure it was still Thursday, and that Thursday meant Teddy had school. He would have had school, but he was sick instead. Teddy didn't look sick. But he was here and not in school. It was a conundrum.

"Your mom called to tell me you were sick, so I called in too. Somebody has to take care of you." He smiled gently, and Billy thought that he was just about the best boyfriend in the entire universe. "It's close to lunch time. Do you want anything to eat?" Billy thought about it. His stomach had started to growl a bit, but...

"I threw up earlier." He wasn't entirely sure that was what he had meant to say, but once it had been said he was satisfied with it. It was a good answer. It even had words and everything! Teddy smiled again (he knew it was a good answer!) and reached out to brush back a lock of dark hair from Billy's temple. He sighed. Teddy's fingers were cool against his skin; it felt so _good_.

"How about some soup?" Billy had always known his boyfriend was a telepath or something. Had to be. He nodded into that cool hand, pouting in disappointment when it was removed.

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Teddy assured him. Cool lips brushed against his forehead and Teddy disappeared into the kitchen. Billy snuggled in and watched a brand-new set of overweight women fight each other on stage.

Teddy re-emerged just as the women were pulled off each other by the security people, carrying a bowl full of chicken noodle and a spoon.

"You'll have to sit up for this, you know." Billy had managed to get himself down to about eighty degrees off vertical, and he pouted again at being forced to move, but he did as he was told.

Teddy settled himself on the edge of the couch again once Billy had gotten situated and held up a spoonful of the soup. "Say _aah_." He was still smiling, so Billy figured that was alright. He opened his mouth and allowed himself to be fed, spoonful by spoonful, with Teddy cleaning the drips off his chin with a tissue whenever he missed some. It was different, but it felt nice. No one had taken care of him like this when he was sick since he was really little. His parents both worked, and the babysitters that had been called when he got sick during elementary school hadn't really bothered with the little things like that.

The soup disappeared fairly quickly, and Billy huddled down into the couch again while Teddy returned the dishes to the kitchen. When he returned, he looked over Billy critically.

"You're that cold?" he asked softly, sitting back on the edge of the sofa. Billy nodded and Teddy's hand found its way to his forehead again, bringing with it that blessed coolness. He closed his eyes and relished it. "You really do have a fever, huh?" Teddy was talking again, and that was nice, because Teddy's voice was a lot nicer to listen to than the people screaming at each other on TV. Teddy's fingers brushed through his hair a few times before the hand went away.

"I'll be right back." He said, and Billy watched him jog off in the direction of Billy's bedroom. When he returned, he brought Billy's comforter with him, setting the large mass down beside the couch. "Can you sit up a little for me?" He asked, basically giving Billy no choice in the matter as he helped him lean forward and then scooped him up, afghan and all. Billy was puzzled but not unhappy about the change. Teddy's hands were cool against his head but the rest of him was warm and comfortable and Billy snuggled into his chest.

Teddy, for his part, carefully shifted so he could sit down in Billy's previously-held spot on the sofa, his back against the armrest, adjusting both himself and Billy so that Billy ended up curled against him on the cushions with his head pillowed just above Teddy's heart. Teddy reached down and pulled the comforter up to cover the two of them, tucking in the edges around them to recreate the cocoon.

"Okay?" Teddy looked down at his boyfriend, who nodded sleepily.

"Mm-hmm. You're warm." Billy smiled and closed his eyes. This was much better than just the afghan. _Much_ better. Teddy wrapped his arms around him, holding him close.

"Go to sleep. You need to rest if you're going to get better." He laid a few kisses on Billy's head, stroking the hair at his temples with gentle fingertips. Billy melted in his arms, his breathing quickly evening out as he fell asleep.

000ooo000ooo000

Rebecca Kaplan had a full schedule, but she also had a sick son at home. Billy was old enough now to take care of himself for the most part, but she knew she would feel like a terrible mother if she came home at five (or more likely six, the way her schedule was shaping up) to find that he'd been throwing up and miserable all day with no one around to look after him. So, when she took her lunch break a little before one in the afternoon, she headed home instead of to the cafe on the corner where she normally went to get a salad.

She walked to the door with her keys in hand, and was surprised to find it already unlocked. She was positive that she'd locked it that morning, she always did. Suspicion and a sudden feeling of worry welled up in her. Was Billy alright? Had something happened? She hurried inside, not even noticing the extra pair of shoes sitting beside Billy's in the front hall. Her first stop was the living room, as she'd left Billy curled up on the couch that morning. When she turned at the entrance to the room, however, she stopped short.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, startled. Teddy, who was half-asleep by that time, blinked a little and turned his head to look at her. He nodded down to Billy, silently mouthing, "He's asleep."

Rebecca nodded, her brow furrowing. She was fairly certain that Teddy should have been in school, and was torn between reminding the boy of truancy laws and being extremely pleased with her son's taste in men. In the end, the latter option won out. She crossed the room quietly to stand beside the couch, reaching out a hand to check Billy's temperature. He still had a fever, though it felt a little lower than it had that morning. Good.

"He had some soup earlier." Teddy whispered, gently teasing Billy's hair back into a semblance of order. Billy murmured in his sleep and cuddled more tightly into Teddy's chest. Rebecca nodded.

"That's good." She matched Teddy's whisper. "When he wakes up he can probably stand to have another couple Advil. It's been a while." Teddy nodded, carefully noting the information. She laid a hand on Teddy's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"I have to get back to work," She said quietly. "I should be back around six. His brothers have sports after school, so I'll be picking them up." She paused. "Do you think you'll need anything else?"

He shook his head. "I think we'll be fine. Thanks, Mrs. Kaplan."

She smiled at him. "Please. It's Rebecca. And thank _you_." She gave his shoulder one final squeeze before moving toward the door. Teddy nodded absently. Billy had been shifting in his sleep, and Teddy was focused on making sure he stayed comfortable.

Yes. Her son had very good taste in men, indeed.


End file.
